Bio
Carlo Antonio B. Juan is the 1st prize winner of the National Music Competition for Young Artists 2014, Senior Guitar Category. His interest in classical guitar started at the age of 12 as a familial rivalry with his cousin, who, at the time, was the better visual artist of the two, but only a beginner as a guitar player. Taking this as a chance to excel in his own right, he began seriously studying the guitar at the age of 14. At 16, he made the decision to enter the conservatory of the Philippine Women’s University, where he studied Bachelor of Music, Major in Guitar Performance.
He has trained under the instruction of Benchito Cariño, a member of the Kasilag Guitar Quartet and Maestro José Valdez: the beacon of classical guitar in the Philippines, who has taught many of the renowned Filipino classical guitarists we know today. At around 18 years old, his aunt from Spain gifted him a CD entitled “Pa Saber Del Flamenco” and it changed his life forever. Ever since then, he fell in love with flamenco and he made it his goal to be a flamenco guitarist as well.
Despite juggling two disciplines, he never lost sight of his first love: classical guitar. In fact, he continued to develop it by taking masterclasses from local and international artists. These artists include Michael Dadap, originally from Leyte but now based in the US, Jorge Luis Zamora from Costa Rica, Roman Viazovskiy from Ukraine, Steve Lin from the USA, and Jeremy Jouve from France.
The National Music Competition for Young Artists or the NAMCYA is the most prestigious competition in the Philippines for classical musicians, given that its governing bodies – the CCP or Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the NCCA or National Commission for Culture and the Arts– are the same entities that confer the National Artist Award. Since his 2014 victory, he has been sent abroad to represent Philippine talent to the world to countries like Thailand and Vietnam. Furthermore, he has performed as a soloist for the Manila Symphony Orchestra, wherein he played the second movement of the Concierto de Aranjuez. Among others, he has also played as a guest artist for 98.7 DZFE, the Philippines’ fine music radio station.
His passion for music, and art in general, has led him to learn other skills to support his artistic growth. For example, he has become fluent in Spanish and accompanies dancers for Centro Fundación Flamenco. Finally, he believes that his mission as a musician is to inspire people to see beauty and to change people into better and kinder human beings, one listener at a time. During his free time, he reads, draws, and writes. But most of all, he loves to spend time with his two year old son.